Hi all -- I'm applying for Econ/Finance PhD (both at Econ departments and business schools) this cycle (Fall 2021) and I would appreciate some feedback regarding my chances for top 10 programs in the US. My profile is below.
PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: Honors Econ and Finance at Top 3 in Canada
Undergrad GPA: 3.7+
Type of Grad: Economics at Top 3 in Asia
Grad GPA: 3.9+
GRE: Haven't taken it yet but expect at least 167Q/163V
Math Courses: Cal 1 (A), Graduate Mathematical Statistics (A, top 3/30), Applied Statistics (A)
Econ Courses Undergrad: Intro to Econ Theory (B), Econ Stats (B), Econometrics (B), Macro (A), Advanced Econ Theory I & II (A), Topics in Econ Theory (A)
Econ Courses MA: Micro I & II (A, top 5/100), Macro I & II (A, top 5/100), Econometrics I & II (A), Topics in Macro (A), Quantitative Macro (A)
LOR: 3 from post-graduate RA. All three should be strong and at least one should be very strong. Two are from very famous profs.
Other Courses: Machine Learning (A), Data Science (A), Deep Learning (A), Corporate Finance (A), Investment Management (A), Finance Seminar (A), Finance Research Project (A), International Finance (A), Fixed Income (A),
Research Experience: 2 years as an RA in a top 5 pre-doctoral program.
Programming: Matlab, Python, Julia
Teaching Experience: PhD core macro, asset pricing, and data science course
Other (Notes, concerns etc.):
Weaknesses: I didn't take many math courses because I decided to pursue a PhD relatively late. I also didn't do well in first-year undergrad.